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In my personal opinion I believe that we should uphold the death penalty, but in cases of the death penalty we should make sure that there is a sound legal process and no hiccups are involved. I don't believe that the death penalty is an effective use to deterring crime because it isn't. The death penalty is better used to kill the people who can't function in regular society. A mass murderer doesn't have any place is the regular realm of society and can't function as such, nor would they contribute to the prison society. A man who sets out to kill, harm, and commit villainous acts among everyday people doesn't deserve to live. Someone whos driving force in life is to afflict pain towawrds other people doesn't deserve the basic human right to live.

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This article states that the death penalty should be continued, but " for the death penalty to be applied fairly, we must strive to make the criminal justice system work as it was intended." The author uses the example of a four year old girl who was suspended by a hook in a closet, beaten unconscious repeatedly, and then was killed by being put in a scalding bath tub for three minutes. He goes on to say that, at every stage of the trial, the defendant should have a competent lawyer and that racism has no place in the courtroom.

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Genny Rojas was four years old when her aunt and uncle, Veronica and Ivan Gonzales, tortured and murdered her. They suspended her alive by a hook on the closet wall in their apartment. They shook her violently, strangled her, beat her with a hairbrush, and handcuffed her for days. She died after she was forced into a scalding bath tub for three minutes. A California jury sentenced Veronica and Ivan to death, and the California Supreme Court upheld their convictions. If anyone deserved the ultimate punishment, they did.

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This article argues that we should keep the death penalty because we "put animals down every day but don't blink an eye" They also argue that its not worth the tax dollars to house an inmate for 40-60 years and run the chance of them commiting more crimes while in prison. There should be a cap on how long capital punishment cases take with a five year limit to reach a verdict.

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I believe the United States should keep the death penalty. The death penalty may be viewed as inhumane, but we put animals down every day and do not blink an eye. The cost of housing inmates is a huge problem. Our prisons are overcrowded but this problem can be easily fixed. Some people even say that the death penalty violates your constitutional rights. The logic behind keeping the death penalty deals with ethics and emotions, but you just have to look at it the right way.

So, who gets sentenced to death row? People who commit capital offenses, like murder, treason, and terrorism. Are these the people we want to spend our tax dollars on? Just so they can sit in a cell and rot away, or even potentially commit another crime while in prison? Each year there are multiple fights, attacks, and murders in prisons. Sometimes guards are the victims and sometimes other inmates are. Prisoners even have ways of contacting the outside world no matter how high their security is. It's either let them live and limit their contact and everyday moves for the next 40 to 60 years or just take care of the issue by lethal injection.

It costs an average of $30,000 to $60,000 a year, just to house, feed, and secure one inmate. An average inmate on death row spends 15 to 25 years just waiting to die. So, if we take a medium of that at $45,000 and multiply it by a medium of 20 years, we get $900,000. That is how much it costs to take care of one death row inmate for 20 years.

But this is where the constitution comes into play. So yes, if you commit a capital offense per the constitution you are still guaranteed your rights, per the 14th Amendment. So what I suggest, to cut down on the cost of death row is putting a cap on "Due Process" a maximum of 5 years for the lawyers, judges, trial courts, and appeals courts to do their due diligence.

The cost of keeping people incarcerated on death row is outrageous and we could be putting that 800 million to way better use. Logically it is a smarter, better, more economical decision. Why do the monsters who commit these capitol offenses deserve to live? Why spend $2 billion on people to sit in a cage when we could put that money toward our schools, our youth, free college, anything to better our children's futures so maybe one day, prisons will no longer exist.
Tara Eaves Denham Springs

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Letters: United States should keep the death penalty

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I believe the United States should keep the death penalty. The death penalty may be viewed as inhumane, but we put animals down every day and do not blink an eye. The cost of housing inmates is a huge problem. Our prisons are overcrowded but this problem can be easily fixed.

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This article talks about the Boston Marathon Bombing.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev doesn't deserve the right to live. He and his brother killed 3 people and injuring 260+ in the initial attacks. He dones't deserve to be able to sit in prison, receive three meals a day, and sit in a cot.

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Boston Marathon Bombing - Victims, Suspects & Facts

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The Boston Marathon Bombing was a terrorist attack that occurred on April 15, 2013 when two bombs—planted by brothers Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev—went off near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. Three spectators were killed more than 260 were injured.